10 things you need to know today: March 12, 2019

1. Trump proposes boosting spending on military, border wall

President Trump on Monday proposed a $4.7 trillion budget, the biggest in U.S. history, that would boost defense spending by $750 billion and include $8.6 billion to build barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. The budget also seeks to cut spending on such social programs as Medicaid, food stamps, and environmental protection. Democrats flatly rejected Trump's plan, saying it would go nowhere. Trump's annual budget proposal to Congress nearly doubles the national debt growth over his 2018 projections. In his 2018 budget proposal, Trump estimated America's national debt would expand from about $14.2 trillion in 2016 to $18.6 trillion in 2027. In his new budget, America's debt would grow by more than $8 trillion to $24 trillion by 2027.

The Washington Post The New York Times

2. FAA says Boeing 737 Max 8 still safe to fly

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that Boeing's 737 Max 8 jetliners are still airworthy despite two deadly crashes in five months. Aviation officials in several countries have temporarily grounded the popular new planes following the latest crash, in which an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 went down shortly after takeoff on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. A Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed into the Java Sea in October, killing 189 people. The FAA said in its notice that it was too early to "draw any conclusions" connecting the causes of the two crashes. The FAA said, however, that it expected to require design changes to an automated flight-control system suspected of contributing to the Lion Air crash.

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3. Witnesses: Ethiopian Airlines plane rattled loudly before crash

Witnesses said Monday that the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed a day earlier, killing 157 people, made a loud rattling sound and emitted smoke as it tried to climb, then banked and crashed into a farmer's field minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa. "It was a loud rattling sound. Like straining and shaking metal," said Turn Buzuna, a 26-year-old housewife and farmer who lives near the crash site. "Everyone says they have never heard that kind of sound from a plane and they are under a flight path." The pilot of the Boeing 737 Max 8 reportedly had requested permission to return, citing unspecified problems, before the plane went down. The investigation into the crash is ongoing, and both of the plane's flight recorders have been recovered.

Reuters

4. White House won't say whether Trump thinks 'Democrats hate Jewish people'

The White House on Monday declined to answer whether President Trump believed and would stand by his reported claim that "Democrats hate Jewish people." At a Republican National Committee gathering at his Mar-a-Lago club on Friday night, Trump reportedly said he didn't understand how any Jew could vote for a Democrat these days. In a Monday briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump is an "unwavering" ally to Israel, and criticized Democratic leadership for its handling of claims of anti-Semitism. Pressed repeatedly, Sanders never explicitly denied that Trump believes his own remark, and said critics should "ask the Democrats" about the issue.

The Washington Post Axios

5. Democrats to hold 2020 convention in Milwaukee

The Democratic National Committee announced Monday that it had chosen Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the site of the party's 2020 presidential convention. DNC Chairman Tom Perez reportedly was considering Milwaukee and larger contenders Miami and Houston as potential host cities. The 2016 Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, lost Wisconsin to President Trump after failing to campaign there before the general election. The state is considered a potentially important swing state in 2020. The Democratic convention is scheduled for July 13-16, 2020. The Republican convention will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

USA Today

6. U.S. to pull remaining diplomatic staff from Venezuela

The U.S. will withdraw its remaining diplomatic staff from Venezuela, the State Department announced late Monday. The U.S. brought home dependents and reduced embassy staff in January. The State Department said the latest decision "reflects the deteriorating situation in Venezuela," and concern that keeping diplomatic staff in the country constrained U.S. policy. The crisis in Venezuela deepened on Monday when an explosion hit a power station in the capital city of Caracas. The incident came after days of nationwide power cuts that opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized by the U.S. and many other nations as Venezuela's interim leader, has blamed on corruption and mismanagement by embattled President Nicolás Maduro's government. Maduro has accused Guaidó and the U.S. of disrupting the power grid with a "cyberattack."

Reuters The Associated Press

7. Pelosi opposes impeachment, saying Trump 'just not worth it'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in an interview published Monday that she is against impeaching President Trump because it would be too divisive. "Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country," Pelosi told The Washington Post Magazine. "And he's just not worth it." The House Judiciary Committee's chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), has made similar comments, saying he didn't want to start impeachment proceedings without significant Republican support. Some Trump critics favor impeachment, while others believe a failed attempt to remove Trump from office would energize his supporters and boost his bid for re-election.

The Washington Post Magazine The New York Times

8. Algeria's ailing president drops re-election bid after protests

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday said he would not seek a fifth term and postponed the vote, which had been scheduled for April 18. Bouteflika's candidacy had sparked mass protests in recent weeks. Bouteflika suffered a stroke in 2013, and he has been out of the public eye since then. "Given my state of health and age, my last duty towards the Algerian people was always contributing to the foundation of a new Republic," Bouteflika said in a statement. There was no immediate announcement on a new date for the election. The North African nation's prime minister, Ahmed Ouyahia, announced he was resigning. His replacement, Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui, is expected to form a new government.

BBC News

9. Tucker Carlson disparages Iraqis, Obamas in resurfaced audio

In unearthed audio released Monday night by Media Matters for America, Fox News host Tucker Carlson is heard calling Iraqis "semiliterate primitive monkeys," saying Afghanistan is "never going to be a civilized country because the people aren't civilized," and declaring that the Congressional Black Caucus "exists to blame the white man for everything." Carlson made the remarks during calls to "The Bubba the Love Sponge Show"; he was a regular guest between 2006 and 2011. In 2008, Carlson said "everybody knows that Barack Obama would still be in the state Senate in Illinois if he were white." Carlson rejected calls for an apology, calling his critics hypocrites and saying he would "never bow to the mob."

Media Matters for America The Hill

10. 3,200 pounds of cocaine seized at New York-area port

Customs agents last month seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine at the Port of New York/Newark on Feb. 28, authorities revealed on Monday. It was the biggest cocaine shipment found at the ports of New York and New Jersey in 25 years, with an estimated street value of $77 million. The drugs were found in a shipping container on a ship that arrived from Buenaventura, Colombia. New York City authorities said the seizure suggested a resurging cocaine market after years of dominance by heroin and fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. The New York Times noted that the seizure illustrated that legal ports of entry remain the main channel for drug smuggling despite President Trump's assertion that narcotics pour in over parts of the U.S.-Mexico border without a wall.

The New York Times The Associated Press